Three Phillies contribute to NL's All-Star shutout (With Videos)

Phillies ace Cole Hamels entered in the seventh inning of Tuesday's All-Star Game, fired a 95-mph pitch to the first hitter he faced, Kansas City hometown hero Billy Butler, and retired the side in order. (Associated Press)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - In a game that was a laugher long before he jogged in from the bullpen, Cole Hamels was joking around before the National Anthem inside the visiting clubhouse at Kauffman Stadium.

Hamels, a three-time Phillies All-Star and soon-to-be-free agent, has been barraged with questions regarding trade rumors and his expiring contract ever since he arrived in Kansas City. Tuesday was no different.

Advertisement

Before the National League rolled to a 8-0 win in the 83rd Annual All-Star Game, a reporter from Los Angeles, long-rumored to be an intriguing destination for the Southern California born-and-bred Hamels, threw bait at the left-hander.

With an easy smile, he bit it.

"The west coast is nice," Hamels said.

A second reporter emerged and pointed out that Hamels' National League warm-up shirt was "Dodger" blue and that his locker stall was next to Los Angeles ace Clayton Kershaw's.

Hamels' jokingly grabbed Kershaw's hat and acted like he was going to don it on his head. He stopped, though, ending the joke.

"I don't know if it would be a good thing," Hamels said. "I have to go pitch in Philly. That's the last thing I would want, for them to get mad."

Unless a deal is reached, the drama that is the Cole Hamels contract negotiations will continue leading up to baseball's trade deadline, three weeks from Tuesday night. But for one night, Hamels didn't have to concern himself with his future in Philly and instead joined the National League pitching party.

Hamels entered in the seventh, fired a 95-mile-per hour to the first hitter he faced, Kansas City hometown hero Billy Butler, and retired the side in order. If it was a chance to showcase himself before the entire baseball world, Hamels passed the test.

"I don't worry about or stress over that," Hamels said of the distraction the constant trade and contract talk can become. "Because it will, if you take that into the game. You're going to implode no one can handle that. So I've tried to do that, day in and day out, just play baseball and that's all I can do. ... You just have to keep playing baseball."

Hamels handled his one inning of work Tuesday flawlessly. But so did the five pitchers who preceded him in the National League's rout.

At least when the Phillies begin the second half and pull off an improbable turnaround that leads them to the postseason and, eventually, to the World Series, they'll have a prize waiting for them. They'll have home field advantage against the American League champions in October.

[Insert canned sitcom laughter here.]

Long before Hamels or any Phillies entered the game, the National League jumped out to a five-run lead by batting around in the first inning off Detroit ace and reigning American League MVP and Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander.

Four straight batters reached with two outs against Verlander, highlighted when San Francisco's Pablo Sandoval cleared the bases with a triple to right.

Verlander matched the worst first inning of his career by allowing five runs. He was the first pitcher to allow at least five earned runs in an All-Star Game in 21 years: Atlanta's Tom Glavine gave up five runs in 1 2/3 innings of a 13-6 National League defeat in 1992.

An NL starting lineup that was made up of five Cardinals and Giants, the last two teams to knock the Phils out of the postseason, had its way with Verlander and the inferior AL pitching staff. After five, the NL had eight runs on 10 hits. In the same time, the American League had mustered only four hits and had just two runners reach scoring position, let alone home plate.

Carlos Ruiz was the first Phils player to enter, jogging in from the bullpen with Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey to begin the bottom of the sixth.

Ruiz, making his first career All-Star appearance, helped Dickey escape a two-on, one-out jam. The Philadelphia fan-favorite catcher known affectionately as "Chooch" pumped his fist at the end of an inning when he managed to hold onto every knuckleball Dickey floated his way.

"I was really nervous," Ruiz said. "I told everyone in the bullpen it was my first All-Star Game. "And the first guy I'm going to catch is a knuckleball guy. So, 'here we go.'"

"He did great," Dickey said of his battery mate for the night. "I didn't throw many super-duper ones. It was much more I wanted to throw strikes and work quickly. I was able to do that. And the one I threw to (Mark) Trumbo that he struck out on was a pretty good one and he handled it like he was catching with chopsticks. It was great."

Ruiz flew out to left field in his only plate appearance, against Oakland rookie closer Ryan Cook in the seventh inning.

Jonathan Papelbon made it a perfect attendance for Phillies All-Stars when he was called in to get the game's final out in the ninth. Papelbon, the 11th National League pitcher used Tuesday, got Baltimore's Matt Wieters to fly out to end the night and strand a runner on third.

As the closer and catcher embraced, Papelbon left Ruiz with a closing message: "It's time to do this more."

"Definitely," Ruiz said of celebrating a victory in a season that's gone awry for the Phillies. "He said let's gets it going, and that's what we need to do. ... We need to do the same thing every day and win games."

The victory was the third straight for the National League.

Prior to 2010, the NL hadn't won an All-Star Game for 13 years, since 1996, when the game was played at Veterans Stadium. The '96 game in South Philly was also the last shutout in a midsummer classic before Tuesday night.

The National League's current three-game winning streak began three summers ago in Anaheim, when Charlie Manuel was the senior circuit's manager.